Rotterdam Reggae Festival 2011 There’s many ways to launch a new event but losing your headliner isn’t one of them. To add to the woes of the first ever Rotterdam Reggae Festival, a second major act didn’t appear either, sparking a row about whether the organisers knew in advance or not (see below). At least [...]
Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry: Over 75 Years, From Dub To Dubstep When it comes to the history of reggae, Bob Marley is almost always the main event. This month and next, though, another iconic Jamaican artist gets the spotlight. On the heels of his 75th birthday, singer, songwriter and producer Lee “Scratch” Perry is releasing an [...]
Rock Royalty The royals aren’t the only ones who can get the public’s tongues wagging about “the dress”, “the ride to the church” or “how good or lousy the groom looked”. Here on the Rock, we are equally keen on salivating over our own celebs. Beenie Man and D’Angel The self-professed King of the Dancehall [...]
Queen Of UK Dancehall: Lady Chann Lady Chann is having a right old natter. Dancehall in the UK is a strange beast, but its latest queen is anything but weird. Sitting in a Walthamstow greasy spoon in a pink shell-suit, matching lipstick and her trusty mobile spinning round her fingers, Lady Chann is perfectly in [...]
Jamaican beats, an international commodity On the evening of March 31 2006, producer Rohan ‘Snowcone’ Fuller says he got a telephone call from Miami, Florida. The person on the other end of the line was American superstar producer Salaam Remi, who informed him that Temperature, deejay Sean Paul’s song on Fuller’s Applause ‘riddim’, had reached [...]
Jamaican Stars Open Up Gateway To Europe Europe’s biggest port and second biggest city in Holland, Rotterdam, sees its first ever Reggae Festival this Easter Sunday, featuring a bumper crop of dancehall and reggae stars. Confirmed acts include man of the moment Vybz Kartel, Energy God himself Elephant man, spirit of Marley Jah Cure, veteran [...]
Levy to release final album Having had several albums to his name, Barrington Levy says that his latest project will be his last. The album, which is to be titled It’s About Time, will be available for purchase this Fall. Speaking with TheSTAR, Levy said, “It’s my final album that I’ll be putting out. I’ll [...]
Chino set to drop debut project
Reggae Reggae Stocks Levi Roots’ appearance on Dragons’ Den to promote his hot and spicy ‘Reggae Reggae’ jerk/barbeque sauce is now legendary. Dragons Peter Jones and Richard Farleigh bought into Levi’s dream of mass producing and mass marketing his sauce. Peter and Richard both offered £25,000 for 20% of the business, and a deal was [...]
A Wild Ride Winds Down: The Awesome Story Behind Wrigleyville’s The Wild Hare Everyone has a story, as we writers relish pointing out. But when I stopped by Wrigleyville’s longtime reggae club The Wild Hare last night to interview the owner, Zeleke Gessesse, about why he’s closing the place on May 15th after 25 years, [...]